"Towards an ideal trial: a few examples of
the most successful judicial civil proceedings in Europe"

18-20 November 2004, Brussels (Belgium)

The
purpose of this Conference, organised jointly by the
Council of Europe and the European Commission, was to
present specific examples of the best civil procedures
in Europe.

Another aim of the Conference was to allow the professionals
of justice (judges, registrars, lawyers, bailiffs), as well as
the public authorities from all the member States to share
experience and discuss the means for having a more efficient and
fair justice.

The results of this Conference were used, inter alia, as a
basis for the future work of the CEPEJ, in particular for its
activity: “A new objective for judicial systems: the treatment
of each case within an optimum and foreseeable timeframe.”

The following themes were
discussed:
- new ways to submit a case to court
- simplified procedures
- towards a modernized pretrial preparation of civil cases
- the enforcement of the judgement
- future stakes for a better justice

This Conference followed the same model as the successful
conference organised in October 2002 on the subject: “Towards a
better access of the citizens to justice.”

This conference, in which 250 European specialists were
present, presented numerous pilot projects established by the
different European States with the aim of improving in a
specific manner the access of citizens to justice and bringing
justice closer to the citizens.